Microsoft emits WinPhone seduction pack

Microsoft has provided a selection of guides showing how easy it can be to code for Windows Phone, including API maps and help with porting existing Qt applications.

The free tool pack follows similar efforts to seduce iOS and Android developers, though none are as generous as the free handset offer that Microsoft's Brandon Watson made to (published) WebOS developers in an ill-judged tweet.

Symbian developers will have to content themselves with a 100-page porting guide, and a helpful tool showing how painstakingly learned Qt API calls map to those within Windows Phone.

The effort isn't very surprising, but it is reminder of just how good Microsoft is at addressing the needs of developers. That is the skill which made Windows the default desktop platform, and now Redmond is pouring every effort into achieving the same thing with Windows Phone.

Even the most cynical would have to admit that Windows Phone has a rosier future than Symbian, and the recent patent disputes besetting Android are making Microsoft's place in mobile telephony evermore assured, so learning a little XNA might not do any harm. ®